Ray Rice and Matt Forte got what they wanted Monday: long-term contracts that sometimes elude NFL running backs. Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe did not sign a long term deal, instead agreeing to a one-year tender worth $9.4 million. The two sides cannot agree to a new deal until after the season, and the Chiefs would have to franchise him again to avoid him becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Neither Rice nor Forte was enamored of playing under the franchise tag tender in 2012, and negotiations went down to the wire. Then Rice scored big with the Baltimore Ravens, getting $40 million for five years, while Forte took a four-year, $32 million deal with the Chicago Bears.